Much Ado About Nothing
by Darkchilde
Summary: Sequel to "Family Ties". So, what DID Catie's neighbor tell her friend about Jamie and Catie?


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Disclaimer: Not mine, all Disney's. *grin* Look everybody, I got a sequel to "Family Ties" out the same day I got "Family Ties" out! Everybody be so happy! *grin* Okay okay, anyway, here's my new fic. I can't think of anything witty to say...oh wait, yeah. I'm not dissing Brittany Spears in this fic, it just went with the flow of the story. This story is just sorta light and (suppose to be) funny. I figured that this could be my "Porter Scene" for this series, because, trust me, it gets steadily more angst ridden as I go along. *grin* So be on the lookout for my next three fics (in this order!): "For All this We Give Thanks...", "Where Are You Christmas", and (the big 'climax' of this storyline with Catie, though more then likely NOT the end of the series) "Broken". Anyway, that's all I have to say, and without further ado...

Much Ado About Nothing

Monday mornings were the worse invention in the history of man, Jamie Waite was sure of it. 

Yawning, the young man sat up, stretching his long frame to get the kinks out of it, and almost wished that he hadn't given his bed up to Catie Roth. However, the mental image of the bruise that still decorated her face was enough to bring him up short. He'd go through anything, even hell itself, to keep her from harm, and he knew it. 

But his back still hurt, and no heroic ideals could change that. Slinging his long legs onto the floor, Jamie rose from the couch and padded on bare feet into the kitchen. His back popped painfully twice on the way there, and he winced, twisting at the waist to try and work the creaks out of his spine. 

Another massive yawn overtook him, and he pushed open the door to the kitchen. He wondered in to find his mother leaning against the counter in her blue, gold, purple, orchid and pink bathrobe, eating a bagel and reading the paper with half hearted interest. His younger sister's Jazz and Molly were already at the table, Molly half asleep in her cereal, her long red hair just centimeters from the milk. Jazz was dressed for school already, her black hair swept back into an elaborate bun.

However, it was Catie Roth, sitting across the table from Jazz and with her chin propped up on one hand that drew his eye. Her long black hair was pulled into a pony tale, something that he had yet to see on her, and she was dressed in one of his tee-shirts, the black one with the slogan 'Make It Stop' scrawled across her chest. Her eyes were half shut, and she didn't have any make-up on to hide the yellowing bruise on her face, but she looked more beautiful then he could remember ever seeing her before. 

"Morning." He muttered, shuffling across the linoleum floor to grab one of his mother's bagels, and crashing into the seat next to Catie and across from Molly. He kicked the little girl softly under the table, and she yelped, jerking her head up. She pouted at him from the table, blinking her dark eyes at him. "Wake up, cutie pie." 

"I am awake." Molly muttered, putting her hand under her chin. 

"Then don't sleep in your cereal." Jamie told her, grabbing a knife off the table and slicing open his bagel quickly. 

"Oh. Good idea." Molly murmured, closing her eyes again. 

"Coffee..." A new voice groaned from the doorway, and Crimson dragged herself through the doorway, still dressed in a pair of velvet purple pajama bottoms with tiny moons all over them and a matching purple tank top. 

"Your to little to drink coffee." Genevieve reminded her, sipping at her own steaming mug of the black liquid. 

"No fair..." Crimson whined, dropping into a seat next to Catie, and dropping her head down onto the table with a thump. 

Catie looked at all of them with amusement through half lidded eyes, though her gaze seemed to continuously dart to the nearly asleep Jamie. He wore sweat pants and a wife-beater to sleep in, leaving his long, leanly muscled arms open to her inspection. His dark hair was wilder then normal, and there were deep circles under his eyes, making him look like he hadn't slept soundly in days. 

For about the three hundredth time, Catie felt badly for taking his bed. Her much smaller frame fit much better on the couch then his nearly six foot frame did, but he had simply refused to budge in his declaration that she should sleep in his bed. Finally, at three o'clock in the morning Saturday, she had been to tired and hoarse to continue to argue anymore and had given in. 

She caught Genevieve looking at her looking at her son, and she felt a blush begin to bloom on her cheeks. But Jamie's mother just smiled, and went back to her paper, her dark eyes sparkling nearly identically to her son's. 

"Catie, what are you going to wear to school today?" Jazz suddenly asked, her voice far to perky for a fourteen year old at seven thirty in the morning. 

"Oh...Geez, I don't know." Catie muttered, mentally smacking herself for not having thinking about it earlier. Hanging out in Jamie's tee shirts would work alright for around the house, but not for school--though she could probably make one heck of a statement if she walked into school dressed in Jamie's "Disobey" tee shirt and nothing else. She grinned as she thought about Val's reaction, but quickly banished the thought. 

"You could probably wear some of my clothes...." Jazz suggested, crinkling her eyebrows and looking at Catie thoughtfully. 

"We're about the same height, but your about twenty five pounds lighter then I am, Jazz." Catie reminded her, looking at the girl's pencil thin frame. 

"Plus, I don't think Catie's much for sweater sets." Jamie piped up, eyeing his little sister's "Good Little Catholic Girl" attire. 

"She could always go as Brittany Spears." Molly suggested, her dark eyes brightening interest. Catie snorted through her nose, trying to picture herself dressed like. 

"Yeah!" Crimson added, a slow smile pulling at her lips. 

"Okay, now there's an image that I'm not going to be getting out of my head anytime soon." Jamie muttered, smirking at Catie. Genevieve snorted, making her children and Catie look at her in surprise. 

"I just know remembered who you were talking about." She explained, smiling brightly. "Catie, I'd lend you some of my clothes, if I wasn't afraid they'd fall off. Baring five children does not to much for your figure, I'm telling you." 

Jamie opened his mouth to say something, but his mother rolled the newspaper up in her hand and smacked him over the head with it before he could say anything. 

"Hush." 

"Yes ma'am." 

"Come on Catie!" Jazz suddenly spoke up, jumping up from her seat at the table and bouncing around it to grab Catie's hands. 

"Did I mention that she's the only morning person in the entire family?" Jamie called to Catie as she was bodily hauled away, with Crimson and Molly following along behind. 

"No--that would have been useful to know." Catie's voice floated back, accompanied by the little girls laughter. 

As soon as they were out of earshot, Jamie sensed his mother's eyes on him. He turned to her, and noticed her beaming at him. He winced, and then lifted an eyebrow. 

"What?" He asked, wondering why his mother was looking at him like that. 

"I really like her, Jamie." His mother began, a small smile playing on her lips. 

"MOM!" 

"Well, I do! She's sweet, and cute, and she's good for you. Now, explain to me again, why you two aren't, as they say, 'going out'?" Genevieve asked, lifting an eyebrow just the way her son did. 

"Because...she doesn't think of me like that. I mean--I don't think of HER like that!" Jamie attempted to cover his faux pas, and failing miserably. 

"Right, mon coeur." Jamie winced--his mother only used French terms of endearment when she was being sarcastic. 

"I don't." 

"Of course, mon fils." Genevieve teased, her eyes glowing. 

"I...have to go get dressed." Jamie groused, stomping out of the room. 

"Adieu, mon petite!" Was his mother's parting shot, and then she dissolved into peals of laughter, much to her son's disgust. 

She was still giggling when he came back down, fifteen minutes later, showered and dressed, his black hair standing on end, and his black leather jacket in his hands. Jamie glared at her for a minute, before letting the expression slid off his face as he crashed into one of the abandoned chairs, and wondered what was taking Catie and his sisters so long. 

"Why DOES it take girls so long to get ready?" Jamie asked his mother suddenly, startling her out of her guffaws. 

"We know how much it drives men crazy." Genevieve informed her son, her brilliant eyes sparkling. 

"Oh." Before Jamie could say anything else, the door was flung open, and Crimson and Molly bounced in, fully dressed and beaming. Jamie looked at them for a long moment, horror written over his features. "Mere...their acting like Jazz..." 

"Haha, very funny!" Jazz's voice shouted from the living room, seconds before she burst into the room as well, grinning impishly. 

"Where's Catie?" Jamie asked, worry evident in his tone. His little sisters exchanged a look, and giggled. 

"She's coming." They all said in the same sing-song voice, three pairs of matching brown eyes glowing at their brother. 

"Oh, this can't be good..." Jamie muttered, just as the door swung open, and Catie Roth wondered into the room, Sami half asleep in her arms. 

Well, he THOUGHT it was Catie Roth, though he couldn't be to sure--since the Catie he knew and loved--liked--would NOT dress like a (far more attractive) clone of Brittany Spears. But...she was. 

Catie had donned one of his sister's pleated plaid skirts, and a white button down shirt that she had tied up just above her belly button. A pair of knee high socks, and clunky shoes completed the outfit, along with her dark hair having been twisted into a pair of braids, even adding the pink fluff balls. 

"Oh...kay....WHO ARE YOU AND WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH CATIE!?" Jamie demanded, his eyes as big as dinner plates. 

Genevieve choked on her coffee, spitting some of it onto the counter. "Oh, THAT'S who you were talking about--I thought you were talking about the little girl who thought she was a genie!" 

@-}--}---

"I still can't believe your dressed like that. " Jamie muttered to Catie, as the duo walked through the doors of Kingsport High, Catie's dark braids swinging. She glared at a group of soccer players that stared at her as she walked by, before turning to Jamie and grinning. 

"Oh come on, I think it's kinda fun! And definitely funny." Catie snickered, pushing back one of her braids. 

"You would." Jamie told her, catching a group of guys staring at her legs, their mouths agape. He glared at them, giving them the universal guy signal for "stay away, she's mine". 

"Yes, yes I would." The girl smirked, side stepping around one of the many blonde cheerleaders the school was infested with. 

By this time, the duo had reached Catie's locker, and she spun the lock, and then twisted it around to her combination. She had just opened the door, when a blur of blonde hair and dark blue whirled up to them, catching both Catie and Jamie off guard. 

The blur rematerialized into Val Linar, the pretty blonde's eyes wide and her mouth slightly agape. Catie blinked at her, and then exchanged a look with Jamie, before opening her mouth to speak to her friend. 

"Ummm...hi?" 

"Why DIDN'T YOU TELL ME!? I had to find it out from Heather Stillmore!" Val accused, putting her hands on her hips and looking put out. 

"Tell you--what?" Catie asked, a bubble of horror welling up in her throat. The mindless masses at school hadn't found out about this weekend had they? If they had....Catie didn't even want to think about it. 

"About you and HIM!" Val cried, thrusting her finger at Jamie. The accused young man blinked, and he and Catie looked at each other, each questioning the other with their eyes. Both of them shrugged in ignorance, before turning back to the slightly fuming blonde. 

"What ABOUT me and HIM?" Catie asked, pointing her finger at Jamie the same way Val had, mocking her best friend. 

"About you two being TOGETHER! I mean, Heather told ME that she had heard it from her cousin, who heard it from HER best friend!" Val rattled off, making Jamie smirk. 

"Who heard it from her boyfriend, who heard it from HIS dog catcher, who heard it from the Tramp..." Jamie mocked the blonde, making Catie giggle. 

But Val was a woman on a mission, and right now, Jamie's prattling was not part of her mission. Crossing her arms, she lifted her eyebrows at her best friend.

"You WERE going to tell me, right? I mean, how could you keep something like this from me for SIX MONTHS...I mean, I thought you denied it kinda quick when I asked you about it, but I just thought that you meant you LIKED him, not that it was actually TRUE..." Val babbled, her eyes round. 

"What IS she talking about?" Catie asked Jamie, before turning her attention back to the blonde. 

"She's your best friend." Jamie pointed out, smirking as Val continued to talk. 

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean that I understand her." Catie replied. 

Just then, Tyler Connell walked back, beaming at the two of them. Catie and Jamie exchanged another confused look, and then looked at Tyler, neither knowing what to expect from him, or what he wanted.

They didn't have to wait long to find out.

"How you guys didn't TELL us? I mean, I think it's cool! You two look good together." Tyler praised them, his eyes darting to Val, who was STILL talking, even though no one was paying attention to them. "Did you know, Val? How come you didn't tell me?" 

"Because I just know found out! When did YOU find out?" Val asked him, turning her attention to the blond football player. 

"This morning. I heard about it from Hank, who heard it from Jasmine, who heard it from Heather..."

"Who heard it from her cousin, who heard it from her best friend?" Val finished for him, nodding her head. 

"Who heard it from the ice cream man, who heard it from the five year old, who heard it from his grandmother, who heard it from the aliens..." Catie added, smirking up at Jamie. 

Jamie chuckled, grinning at the dark eyed girl, who smirked back, rolling her eyes at the strange customs that came with being popular. 

Hank Beechum strolled up at that point, and grinned at Jamie and Catie, the same way Tyler had, and the confused twosome winced, hoping this wasn't going to lead to more confusing interrogation. 

But the handsome quarterback just grinned, and asked "So, have you guys really been dating six months?" 

Jamie's draw dropped and Catie stared at him, dumbfounded. Hank grinned at them, running his hand over his head, continuing his comments with: "You guys don't have to deny it. Everybody's heard about it by now!" 

Jamie and Catie looked at each other, then back at Hank, then at each other again, before shrieking "WHAT!?" in unison. 

******

Catie heaved a sigh of relief when the last bell of the day rung, signaling the end of the school day. Today had defiantly been one of the MOST stressful days of her life, and that was saying something after some of the days she had had in the past. 

She had been asked, probably a hundred times that day, if she and Jamie were going out, and if they were, how long had it been, and when was her baby due? 

It was that last comment that had had her head spinning. She had grabbed Val at the end of third period, threatening to tell Tyler about her undying devotion to him, if she didn't fill her in on what everyone was saying about her RIGHT THEN.

She almost wished she hadn't. 

According to Val, the rumors going around school ranged from the almost believable--the idea that she and Jamie had been secretly going out for a few months now--to the utterly insane--they had run off and gotten married that weekend, and were expecting their first child. 

"I didn't realize that my love life was so interesting to the general public." Catie muttered to herself as she opened her locker door, her lips pulled into a frown. 

"What was that, my beloved blushing bride?" A deep voice teased from behind her, and Catie glared at Jamie over her shoulder, her long black hair falling into her eyes, subtracting from the intensity of the look. 

"Funny. But could I expect anything less from the father of my child?" The dark haired girl asked, lifting an eyebrow. 

"Speaking of the kid, what are we going to name it?" Jamie snickered, walking beside her as the duo made their way out the door. 

"Oh, I was thinking of maybe Charisma for a girl..." Catie trailed off, her eyes sparkling. 

"Hey, that's pretty." Jamie joked back, a slight grin pulling at his lips. "We could name her Charisma Titannia." 

"Uh...why?" Catie asked, her curiosity piqued. 

"It's tradition in my family. I'm not the only one with a middle name that came out of a Shakespeare play--all of our names did." Jamie informed her. 

"Your kidding." Catie gaped, her eye wide. 

"I wish I was--James Romeo, Jasmine Cordelia, Crimson Ophelia, Molly Hero and Samantha Desdemona." Jamie rattled off, much to Catie's amusement. 

"Okay, where does Titannia come from?" 

"A Midsummer Night's Dream." Jamie replied. 

"Oh. So, can we name him Romeo if he's a boy?" Catie requested, smirking at her 'husband' in amusement. 

"Um, no." Jamie replied.

"Oh, come on..." Catie pleaded, her eyes laughing. "Please?" 

Before Jamie could say anything else, a very feminine shriek filled their ears. "DEAN KAHFKEY! I'M NEVER SPEAKING TO YOU AGAIN!" 

"Oh come on Heather, baby..." 

Jamie and Catie looked at each other, and smiled. It looked like their fifteen minutes of fame were up. 

"Hey, you know, I'm not on call today. Wanna go hang out at my house?" 

"I'm there." 


End file.
